1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a sun visor clip for a motor vehicle. More specifically, the invention relates to a sun visor clip that secures and aligns a sun visor to a headliner of a motor vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Traditionally, motor vehicle interior components, such as sun visors, were attached to a roof panel of a motor vehicle by screws or Christmas tree type fasteners. Individual installation of screws, however, is both time-consuming and costly. In addition, screws are not aesthetically pleasing to the occupants of a motor vehicle passenger compartment. At the same time, Christmas tree type fasteners are easier to install but have the drawback of being either difficult to remove or, even if removable, not reusable.
The recent trend in the design and assembly of interior components has been to utilize modular snap together parts that may be pre-assembled prior to shipment and final assembly into the motor vehicle. For example, sun visors are commonly pre-assembled to the headliner of the motor vehicle by sandwiching the headliner between the sun visor and a sun visor clip. The sun visor clip may be screwed to a mounting bezel of the sun visor prior to assembly of the headliner and the sun visor to the motor vehicle. However, proper alignment of the sun visor clip to both the mounting bezel of the sun visor and to the headliner has been difficult to achieve.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,136 discloses a modular sun visor attachment fastener. The fastener defines a base and spring biased legs that the visor assembly to the frame of the motor vehicle. While this device secures the visor assembly to the motor vehicle in the proper position, the fastener lacks any ability to control its orientation and position with respect to the headliner during the overall installation of the headliner and the visor assembly to the motor vehicle. This design is deficient because the visor assemblies that are installed using this fastener must be realigned as the headliner is being installed into the motor vehicle.
A sun visor clip is provided for aligning and attaching a sun visor to a headliner of a motor vehicle. The sun visor has a mounting bezel including a tubular center bearing and a plurality of longitudinal grooves formed in the tubular center bearing. The headliner has a visor opening, a recessed portion surrounding the visor opening, and a plurality of depressions spaced about the recessed portion. The sun visor clip includes a base defining a plane and having an outer peripheral edge and an inner peripheral edge defining a center aperture. The sun visor clip also includes a plurality of alignment tabs projecting radially from the outer peripheral edge for cooperation with the plurality of depressions in the headliner to align the sun visor clip within the recessed portion of the headliner in a specific orientation.